Thank god for Gale Banks.

Back when you did the Six Gun 7.3 I was using Mecmen Alternator for older Brush trucks. At the time Most Volunteer fire departments were using pickups trucks with skid units. The halogen light bars, strobes, wig wags, sirens and other halogen lights were frying Batteries and Alternators. Between your Six Gun and Mecmen I was looking like the Firefighting hero mechanic too. Thank you Gale.

Had one of these in my old 3.6L Dodge Avenger with 2 optima yellow caps. I jumped everything from pick up trucks to diesel box trucks with that set up. One time I saw a duramax pickup trying to jump his buddy. I ended up jumping him. The look was priceless.

This guy explains all the questions I have. Without even asking. 👍

Awesome video as always!! I run a 370 amp 6G 6 phase hairpin alt on my 99 Crown Vic Interceptor. Also running a 1.9 inch overdrive alt pulley. All 0 gauge high strand OFC copper cables. Big 4 wire upgrade also. And yes, part of the Big 4 wire upgrade includes a 0 gauge cable from battery NEG to the alt case. Because, the true ground is the alt case. Great stuff Mr. Banks!!

Your comment section is on point also. Mostly positive guys happy to digest the info. And many people adding more info.

I'm just glad you're still pumping out content during this pandemic!

Awesome alternators ...most car audio guys use these some even use up to 5.. just a tip use "OFC" wire rather than "cca" and the higher quality car audio wire is super soft and flexible even when using 00 wire

Gale, Thank you for explaining certain concepts, valuable for the masses that needs more amperage. GM even produce a coolant cooled dual stator alternator for a number of years. The alternator supplies the amps required for all the accessories including engine operation, but a rear steering system by itself can use a lot of current to turn those large axle loads. I started using voltage about 45 years ago while working on EFI vehicles with way less demands. While running, and the circuit is on, in a series circuit where the device uses the available voltage. This make fast, accurate and easy for a tech to identify area of higher resistance which is the root cause of a liquid loss of voltage, resulting in lower current. Undersized wires, bad switch, connectors terminal, fuse holder or the device itself can be quickly identified. With a complete system accounting for every amp, every while under full load is an excellent way of finding total amperage requirements plus having 20% extra is perfect. It is very smart to have a ground lug on the alternators frame as ground is created there, as most everyone thinks it is just positive amperage. Although, as posted below by “Dieselman” eluded to “Oxygen Free Copper” wire, is has a little less resistance per foot and the insulation makes it more flexible, but this is represented in the price. Just follow published charts for amperage over length, as they proper use the cross-section of copper stands bundled together, and leave some wiggle room as well. Thanks for explaining a great deal of good information. Get a good digital multimeter and a good amp-clamp, then learn to use them! ASE Master Tech since 78 - Retired.

What do you mean, "Is going to be a great project"? It already is! Keep them coming!

I love the fact that it is wired for one wire out of the box. Looks like this would be a good swap for older farm equipment that uses electrical accessories on the implements.

Technical comments. FYI, 6 phase is 3 phase with each phase center tapped. This does permit using 12 diodes with current distribution in a full wave bridge rectifier. It is wired similar to a Y alternator with the centers of each winding connected together and floating instead of just one end tied together in a traditional Y. Each phase is 120 degrees apart for the prime side of each winding and the 180 degree compliments of each phase connects to the 2nd set of 6 diodes. This configuration is common in welders and other high amp DC supplies to reduce ripple. Primary is 3 phase. By technical definition, this is actually 3 phase with complements. This requires no special alteration of the field. The big advantage is more diodes to share high current and lower ripple voltage.

Best alternators period! Nice craftsmanship too.

Mr. Banks, Consider using fine strand welding leads v/s the (0) electric cable. More conductors and less resistance. Don't forget you proper sized fuse.

So freaking awesome. Absolutely the best KZfaq channel now. The different topics and products on display are epic. The graphics and explanation are on point. Thank you amsoil and thank you folks at banks behind the scenes. That old guy is cool too...

Gale mentioned copper clad aluminum (CCA) wire. I use 1/0 tinned oxygen-free copper (OFC) in my truck. OFC is heavier and costs more but it carries more current than CCA for a given wire size and length. I suppose that it may be overkill for how I use it but it is less resistant to current flow and offers additional safety (in theory anyway).

Please for the love of God, connect that blue sense wire to the battery where it's suppose to connect, don't leave it on the charging stud. I wish Alt builders would really break their habit of putting it on the stud.

The box is stuff of legend, YOU SIR ARE LEGENDARY !!!

Probably requires a lot of belt tension to not slip, Check all related bearings often...including crank end bearing. If noise not a problem, consider a toothed belt (timing).

I designed that knife! Glad to see you using it!

It’s so nice to see some one get fired up by an alternator 😂

I ran a 270amp Mechman alternator in my car audio grand prix for many years with no issues. Put out way more than advertised power. Pressure washed the engine bay all the time without covering it too.

"Aldernader"

It is the best alternator I have ever owned. Truly a beast.

gota love gales comments quote thats buzzin the snout out of one of these things

These are the best alternators out there with high power!!

Low voltage may cause devices to also pull more amperage, possibly causing more heat or damage to sensitive components.

Wish my kids worked for you Gail. You would be a great boss and teacher

Thank god for car audio guys

Alernayer no, alTernaTor, yup - well, slightly smaller ones... Joshing aside, a very well presented explanation - I've been trying for decades to explain drive ratios, peak rpm, output curves and that they only put out what is required to maintain the set voltage, etc, but you covered it all very nicely - even made reference to the guage wiring required for the output AND ground - I've seen more than a couple of grounds for insulated (NVH) alternators that got hot enough to melt their insulation! Hhave you considered a 'Delta' wiring arangement - I've used it before, you have the heavy guage from the alternator to the battery, from the battery to the heavy draw intem(s), AND directly from the alternator to the heavy draw items. Doing that I've been able to get it down to a 0.1V drop in some instances.

You need to do the big three upgrade with your wiring and only use OFC wire.

One of the sharpest mechanic/engineers

mr legend of the turbo world,the chuck yeagher of the automotive world

Love these alts run one on my ram and one on my roach beast mode.

Both my old school cars have mechman alts and I’ve never had an issue after 6 and 10 yrs of usage the best hands down

Oh jeez they do a 400A version too, wow. I had no idea that kind of output was available. Sheesh!

Welcome to the car audio world.

What is the duty cycle on 370 amps? Lots of heat to manage

i threw a 300amp alternator into my old civic and modded the idle control to have a toggleable high idle (2000-2100 rpm) and boy oh boy was that great. sadly the engine died due to unrelated problems. still got the alternator

Although I don't share a lot of commenters enthusiasm for oxygen free copper I would not want to use copper clad aluminium. Nevertheless a very interesting video as always.

CE Niehoff makes a line of alternators for military and transit coaches. I'm familiar with their transit applications. 280 -450 amps.

Individual alternator ground cable..that's new and interesting, will apply to be add from know😀. Thank you🥰

I've never seen nor heard of a 300+ amp alternator period. Didn't know they made them that hot, nor did I know there was a need for them unless you have some crazy stereo system. Interesting!

Rumor has it the Banks sponsored Monster truck will have a body shaped to look like Gale Banks head.. lol

Loved the video the belt load calculation would have been cool. Also cover battery sensing vs this type. Aluminum Anodizing makes it non conducive so that’s why they need ground wire. Once used super caps to meet needs for temporary loads. Are the steering motors not shutting off when they hit limit ie full turn

That wire chart is for coarse stranded wire. You’ll use DLO or some other fine stranded conductor for that because of vibration.

Just a thought, Maybe a second battery or Super Cap to run the electronics on the truck ? Would not need to be very large, just isolated from the starting and steering loads. I've setup systems like this before. It really solves a lot of problems.

So..... you could run an arc welder off that? CRAZY.

If you isolate the ECU with a supercapacitor and inductor you will never have a problem with power dropouts during the peak current flow from the alternator. Ground loops, will remain a problem. Of course the negative terminal makes sense for high reliability.

I got a 380 single on my ram 2500 and i can’t drain my semi batteries on it, high drain power tools? No problem. Love the thing.

Nothing on that gauge cluster showed voltage.

Very informative video and I love this thing'! I wanted to purchase one of these, but when I looked at the application chart, it shows incompatibility with a gas-powered 7.0/427 N/A build, which I find puzzling. I plan to call them to sort this out.

will you do a video on what starter you will use on this project? I've enjoyed getting to know the other products you are showing us

LOVE this. Thanks so MUCH. GOD BLESS Y'ALL.

Banks the Diesel Santa Claus. With his high performance slicer.

You can get mechman alts from down4sound free shipping!!

Looking forward to the update us on how she works.

a couple large caps and a monster cranking battery would keep the voltage up.

Thats an impressive aldernader

I also have one of there alternators and it's still in there, there expensive but so far so good... voltage is constantly 14

You should look into investing a good lithium lifepo4 battery to go along with that aldernador 😛

These alternators are popular in car audio

The number one upgrade for high wattage car audio...

good for ambulances

It's hilarious, because all mechman does is make new frames and smaller pulleys for high output Denso and Bosch alternators, but they don't come up with the design. The billet anodized frames do look better than the cast factory ones. You're really just paying more for a remanufactured alternator with a pretty frame. Also, it showed them soldering the stator lead connections, these were originally welded not soldered for a reason, so when that alternator gets up to the solder melting temp it's gonna stop making output.

Great for monster trucks and great for multi-Kw sound systems😂😂😂

the same spec can be found in an alternative alternator if you can find the model you want from mechman guys "its a VELEO 11358" unit that comes stock in bmw e70 e.t.c or the bigger unit that comes in the M50d the small unit does 230amp idle and 370 at rev haven't tested the big unit's peak new equipment need to be built for that seems like over 400 amps (make my load catch fire) these unit are used in other German cars to with all different types of mounts keep in mind the oem BMW version uses LIN bus for control (BMW x5 alternators are cheap & everywhere !) not E53 versions ! must be newer e70 & onwards

Tim the tool man Taylor. More power arugh, arugh, arugh!!!

Now the question is...do you crimp those lugs with the 0 or 00 cables or solder them or crimp and solder? If they should be crimped, what crimp tool is best ?

CCA Wire is a big no no and Mechman would never recommend anything other than OFC or Welding copper cable if on a tight budget. $600 alternator, don’t cheap out on wire, it’s too important, do it right the first time. 2/0 Flex a prene welding cable is 2.30 a ft I believe vs most car audio aOFC being around $4-5 per foot. That will fit the ring terminals perfectly that are supplied with the mechman alt.

Just $599. Downright reasonable for the custom nature of it.

I'm more interested in the phasing on the alternator, but you didn't go into detail on it.... Not sure what you mean by "not intuitive" on the phasing. There's really only a few things to look at.. It could be a 6-phase alternator where 3 phases are in phase with the other 3 (this would just be the manufacturer then spreading heat over more diodes, but balancing that load across them might be challenging).. Or more likely, it's a normal 6 phase winding where each phase is separated by 60 degrees rather than the 120 degree separation in normal 3-phase power. Of course, if you play with the rotor poles vs stator poles, you can also aim for a more BLDC-like back-emf with trapezoidal waveforms if that's your schtick. Don't just tell us something and not go into detail! What do you think us nerds are here for? ;)

I presume these are smaller amps than the ones which we normally use? Be interesting to see the actual output on a sustained load case.

I wonder if you could use one of these as a wind-power generator, connected to some big blades on a pole...

I love banks videos.

I'm glad he used the technical term 12 big-ass diodes.

That is a Denso factory alternator stuffed into fancy billet cases. .

This (370 Amp) alternator would be really good for making an off-grid waterwheel power source. That would charge a searous battery bank.

I am sure this has been explored but have the teams considered running a different hydraulic pump to allow the engine driven hydraulic pump to operate both the front and rear steer?

I got some welding lead you can use,,,

Gale you should go see the " BroDozer " diesel powered monster truck built by the Diesel Brothers

Why not do a big capacitor?

you should look at Leece Neville Alternators the fire equipment industry has been using them for decades and produce well over 500 amp alternators and lower as well they last through the abuse of fire equipment

How do you think Mechman compares to Tough Stuff and Power Master?

Impressive Alternator 👍

Need one of those for sure

This thing could power a house or two off of a 1200CC diesel at 1600 rpm!. Better than any generator on the market today!

Very cool Gale.

Question? What's the failure mode of this 1?

Big ass diodes! Nice ratio explanation

No mechanic here, but i heard a stone mason believe it or not, talking about running that ground wire directly to the alternator, thanks for posting and sharing.

hi, I don't understand . . . if the regulator is putting out only the required amps from the alternator, why is the 500 amp alternator drawing more hp than the 370 amp alternator for the same load? I understood he said the 500 amp alternator requires more power per amp than the 370 amp alternator. Did I misunderstand? Also he talks about these alternators spinning at 6000 rpm. But my heavy truck redlines at 3800 rpm but runs best at about half that rpm. What do I need so these are capable of producing full power at 2000 rpm? Much smaller pulley - what size? Thank you.

Great content!...Thx Gale! 😉👌👍

I could use it to replace my 55 amp alternator

Mega DC power! Oh yea!!!!!

why do u need a high amperage alternator?

If you have an issue where the battery voltage drops "instantly" to 10v and now put an alternator then you're going to have a real pretty dead alternator real quick. You need more battery.

How well does the Mechman alternator work with modern ECM controlled charging systems in newer vehicles?

so my diesel will need a huge as pulley? idle 500-800 and 2300 redline. i'm never going to need the max output while at redline, i'm going to need it at high idle, say 1200 rpm

Mechman has a 450 and 500 amper coming out. Us cb keydown guys love mechman :)